Ooooh-Yeah! —

Ouya plans to launch a new console every year

And take advantage of faster components and lower prices.

Ouya, the company making the Ouya Android-powered gaming console, announced at the DICE summit in Las Vegas this week that it will launch a new version of its console every year to take advantage of lower prices and better processors. “There will be an Ouya 2 and an Ouya 3,” said CEO Julie Uhrman. “We’ll take advantage of... prices falling. So if we can get more than 8GB of Flash in our box, we will."

Uhrman added that Ouya will approach this strategy just as mobile companies have with handsets. Games will maintain backward compatibility and be tied to a user’s account, much as how Steam works now. The first Ouya console will launch with a Tegra 3 quad-core A9 chip and run at a clock speed of 1.6GHz.

The Ouya is slated to ship next month for Kickstarter backers. It will launch at brick-and-mortar stores like Best Buy, Target, and GameStop in June and retail for $99.

The components of the Ouya are nearly free compared to console hardware. Last-gen arm SOCs are about $10. An 8 GiB flash chip is about $5. The RAM is probably $2. The cost of manufacturing the Ouya is likely about $25. This is an order of magnitude cheaper than a traditional console. The controller probably costs $10-20 to manufacture. The large margin between cost and price is necessary for setup and software development. If Ouya is successful, setup and software costs become minuscule. In a year, they can easily drop the price of the original Ouya to $50, essentially making the Ouya "free" with a controller, and release a more powerful Ouya II at the same pricepoint or maybe $50-75 without a controller.

Paying $50 to $100 dollars a year to make all your games look better and to play new games better is entirely reasonable. I already pay more than that towards my phone (and that much per month for service), even though my old phones work fine. I also play games on my PC, which requires a ~$200 video card every other year and a ~$600 new computer every 4 years or so, averaging about $250 a year. I doubt that the Ouya will ever replace a PC for games, but its cost, even assuming I bought one every year, is small.

The feature that I think is necessary for future success will be remote control from a cell phone or tablet. To browse the web, you need a keyboard, but people don't want a keyboard on their coffee table. Being able to use your phone or tablet for text and touch entry would make for a very slick interface for web browsing and media playback.

I don't think Ouya will, in the long run, be successful. My prediction is that, with the low cost of a reasonably powerful SOC, TV manufacturers will simply integrate them into sets and run Android games directly, essentially upgrading slow and clunky "smart" tv's into giant tablets. These will not be upgradable, which might allow for an Ouya device to flourish since TVs' lifetimes are typically 10 years or so, while SOC upgrade cycles are about a year now (the end of Moore's law will eventually lengthen that).

1943 posts | registered Sep 10, 2002

Florence Ion
Florence was a former Reviews Editor at Ars, with a focus on Android, gadgets, and essential gear. She received a degree in journalism from San Francisco State University and lives in the Bay Area.

100 Reader Comments

Isn't multi-year stability one of the main advantages to a console? Constant significant HW upgrades, incompatibility with my apps in my normal android stores out of the box. Indie developers keep gushing, but the Ouya seems like a worse and worse deal for the customer all the time.

Isn't multi-year stability one of the main advantages to a console? Constant significant HW upgrades, incompatibility with my apps in my normal android stores out of the box. Indie developers keep gushing, but the Ouya seems like a worse and worse deal for the customer all the time.

It's starting to sound like the folks that got the KS-gen Ouyas are definitely now buying beta boxes. I'm glad I decided not to sink into this one. I'll just wait for the Steambox.

Isn't multi-year stability one of the main advantages to a console? Constant significant HW upgrades, incompatibility with my apps in my normal android stores out of the box. Indie developers keep gushing, but the Ouya seems like a worse and worse deal for the customer all the time.

Depends on how they do it.. After all, the xbox and ps3 have been updated several times with newer/cheaper components... They just don't call it a new console.

Isn't multi-year stability one of the main advantages to a console? Constant significant HW upgrades, incompatibility with my apps in my normal android stores out of the box. Indie developers keep gushing, but the Ouya seems like a worse and worse deal for the customer all the time.

How do you see it as an disadvantage to the consumer that they get current gen. hardware for the same price, whenever they purchase the console?

You do of course know that it will be backwards compatible because you read the article, so what don´t you like?

I'll echo the sentiment that the allure of a console for the customer and developer is knowing they have a stable platform they can count on for a number of years. Having multiple iterations of Ouya will severly fracture the environment. On the developer side this will likely mean we see cheap cell phone type games as opposed to AAA titles. It is just too risky and expensive to develop a title when you do not know what the install base of Ouya's that will run your game are.

I'd love to get proven wrong but I just don't think we are going to see a large number of must have titles coming out consistently. Likely we'll get lazy ports from the big 3 consoles.

Depends on how they do it.. After all, the xbox and ps3 have been updated several times with newer/cheaper components... They just don't call it a new console.

When Microsoft and Sony release new revisions of their consoles, they go to great lengths to make sure that performance stays the same as the original version. They don't add more RAM (or if they do, they don't make it available to developers), they don't use faster processors (or if they do, they underclock them) and so on.

Isn't multi-year stability one of the main advantages to a console? Constant significant HW upgrades, incompatibility with my apps in my normal android stores out of the box. Indie developers keep gushing, but the Ouya seems like a worse and worse deal for the customer all the time.

Eh. They're doing the Ouya based on the model of cell phones and tablets, not that of the entrenched consoles. I can see what they're going for here, and it seems good to me; it means that they won't be pushing 7-year-old hardware at people and expect to be taken seriously.

Isn't multi-year stability one of the main advantages to a console? Constant significant HW upgrades, incompatibility with my apps in my normal android stores out of the box. Indie developers keep gushing, but the Ouya seems like a worse and worse deal for the customer all the time.

One of the draws to conventional consoles, yes. But the Ouya price point and the nature of Android makes regular upgrading of the hardware a potential necessity.

It would only become a problem if the upgrades actually do hamper stability. Customers purchasing an Ouya 3 should expect some content that the Ouya 1 can't deliver, but general use should not be impaired. I'd say Ouya won't last long otherwise, but it simply can't remain competitive if they don't keep the specs up to date either.

Look at this thing more like a very smart smartphone. Top shelve phones from 3 years ago have considerably lower specs than current gen devices, but they can handle most--not all--of the apps that someone wants to use.

Would be nice if Ouya made a statment as to how long they expect the console to remain effective before an upgrade becomes required though.

Isn't multi-year stability one of the main advantages to a console? Constant significant HW upgrades, incompatibility with my apps in my normal android stores out of the box. Indie developers keep gushing, but the Ouya seems like a worse and worse deal for the customer all the time.

Depends on how they do it.. After all, the xbox and ps3 have been updated several times with newer/cheaper components... They just don't call it a new console.

The Xbox and PS3 hardware updates didn't do things like make it faster or have more RAM. Performance is stable and not a moving target. The revisions only added storage space and made them cheaper to make and buy.

Upgrading the base machine by swapping out the CPU/GPU chip as frequently as OUYA announced makes this nothing more than a PC, but significantly slower and incompatible. We already have PCs and services like Steam.

Upgrading the base machine by swapping out the CPU/GPU chip as frequently as OUYA announced makes this nothing more than a PC, but significantly slower and incompatible. We already have PCs and services like Steam.

Not all all. This makes it equivalent to an iOS device. A PC is a whole other magnitude of fragmentation, similar to Android.

Isn't multi-year stability one of the main advantages to a console? Constant significant HW upgrades, incompatibility with my apps in my normal android stores out of the box. Indie developers keep gushing, but the Ouya seems like a worse and worse deal for the customer all the time.

Depends on how they do it.. After all, the xbox and ps3 have been updated several times with newer/cheaper components... They just don't call it a new console.

Except the hardware inside both of those products do not become "faster" or "better". They might have a different external look and/or provide additional storage but the hardware itself didn't change.

This sounds like they will even change the CPU/GPU in the future which means developers can and will target a specific hardware revision of Ouya in the future. We also will have to deal with Ouya 2 being able to support Android 6 and Ouya 1 won't support it. This already happens on the Android and iOS platform just have to look at those mobile application stores to confirm that.

The hardware being used within the Ouya is moving way to fast to already confirm that the next revision will used different hardware.

Isn't multi-year stability one of the main advantages to a console? Constant significant HW upgrades, incompatibility with my apps in my normal android stores out of the box. Indie developers keep gushing, but the Ouya seems like a worse and worse deal for the customer all the time.

How do you see it as an disadvantage to the consumer that they get current gen. hardware for the same price, whenever they purchase the console?

You do of course know that it will be backwards compatible because you read the article, so what don´t you like?

Backwards compatibility means an old game will play on the new hardware, but a new game isn't guaranteed to work on old hardware. Knowing that developers might not support your hardware in a year or two makes it less appealing. The low price will offset some of that disadvantage, but it's still a disadvantage.

If this thing runs RetroArch consistently and at good speeds, having a little box with the complete game libraries (well excluding all PSX ISOs of course, but some of them) all in one box with a controller and HDMI output, then this may be worth the hundred dollars to me.

Backwards compatibility means an old game will play on the new hardware, but a new game isn't guaranteed to work on old hardware. Knowing that developers might not support your hardware in a year or two makes it less appealing. The low price will offset some of that disadvantage, but it's still a disadvantage.

It is I guess.

But it is priced at a point where people don't have to consider it as an investment in a platform.

Isn't multi-year stability one of the main advantages to a console? Constant significant HW upgrades, incompatibility with my apps in my normal android stores out of the box. Indie developers keep gushing, but the Ouya seems like a worse and worse deal for the customer all the time.

How do you see it as an disadvantage to the consumer that they get current gen. hardware for the same price, whenever they purchase the console?

You do of course know that it will be backwards compatible because you read the article, so what don´t you like?

It is a disadvantage to customers because they have to rebuy the new version of the console every few years if they want to run games that only run on the new version. It is only backwards compatible, not forwards compatible. It also means that developers won't attempt to tune engine performance to get the most out of the console, because it isn't worth the effort for such a short-lived platform.

The tree hugger in me sort of weeps at this. Crank out a new console every year ... and do what with the old ones? Are you going to setup a program that lets folks send their old one back for a discount or credit to your game store? Or, are you just going to leave them to their own devices, ... toss them in the trash in some cases.

Also worth noting that controllers are 50 bucks and a new Ouya (console + power plug + controller) is $100. Assuming they sold (from version 2 onward obviously) starter kits and upgrade kits with no controllers or accessories, seems they could probably deliver these upgraded units extremely cheap. Even more so if the things are as easy to take apart as they claim and they can just sell upgrade motherboards and you just swap them into your current Ouya case.

As it's been noted a few times already in this thread that iPads cost significantly more than 100 bucks and this release schedule works fine for iPad users.

Backwards compatibility means an old game will play on the new hardware, but a new game isn't guaranteed to work on old hardware. Knowing that developers might not support your hardware in a year or two makes it less appealing. The low price will offset some of that disadvantage, but it's still a disadvantage.

It is I guess.

But it is priced at a point where people don't have to consider it as an investment in a platform.

I would think that too, $100 is chump change to many, but after seeing how many Nintendo Wii's sold at their holiday price point of $100, it looks like many still consider it an investment. It's also at a price point that might get people thinking about a cheap tablet, a Nexus 7 is more costly, but much more versatile.

Edit: Controllers cost $50? That would make the initial jump to the system an investment for sure, granted the controllers will persist through multiple models (you'd hope).

The tree hugger in me sort of weeps at this. Crank out a new console every year ... and do what with the old ones? Are you going to setup a program that lets folks send their old one back for a discount or credit to your game store? Or, are you just going to leave them to their own devices, ... toss them in the trash in some cases.

Except that these things are tiny. You could probably stack 7 Ouyas on top of each other and have less landfill waste than an original PS3 or Xbox. Or at least comparable amounts.

Isn't multi-year stability one of the main advantages to a console? Constant significant HW upgrades, incompatibility with my apps in my normal android stores out of the box. Indie developers keep gushing, but the Ouya seems like a worse and worse deal for the customer all the time.

On the other hand its also the bane of consoles ( high prices in the beginning because the console needs to hold 6-7 years) and the inability to upgrade later with derelict hardware at the end of the life cycle. iOS shows that gaming can work well on slowly evolving hardware. Most games will work on older versions of the iPhone or iPod Touch but they might not work as nicely. Essentially developers will target whichever configuration is in the most hands at a time.

But yes it will not be such a clean playing field as consoles are now and your early adopter console might not be such a long term investment. Its a middleway between PCs that only have a common API (DirectX) and consoles that have a clearly defined hardware set.

I think it's pretty smart to admit that you're going to incrementally update your console every year, reducing the amount of "Tegra3 is so weak Ouya is dead" talk. Also the fact that its tied to an account and not a console leads to things that smartphones do now, with free updates to graphics and engine tweaks whenever a new version of the hardware comes out, which is great for consumers.

Consoles have huge problems when it comes to a game that doesn't run well. For example, Halo games usually have terrible texture pop-in and framerates can struggle. If you have a cellphone style yearly update system, where better hardware is released, you can tweak your engine to adjust for the pop-in and framerate drops and end up with fixing an old game that otherwise would just always look terrible and run poorly in spots. Which will lead to AAA game developers rethinking development and what it means to release a game. They'll have to be more agile and creative with releases. Instead of releasing a new version of the game every year, they can continually update very popular games to run better and smoother, extending the life of games that otherwise would be pushed out by the next years release. Then, when you accumulate enough changes that the old game won't accomodate the changes anymore, then it's time for the sequel.

I worried about forward compatibility briefly. But we're talking about android developers here for the most part. They're used to cross platform integration. The challenges of making a game run on hundreds of different phones and tablets is much more difficult than a few consoles with generally similar specs and a logical design uptick.

As Android improves, so will Ouya. That should make it faster, but one hopes that there are going to be limitations placed on any game that enters the proprietary store so that it will work on Ouya 1 as well as ouya 3, 4 or 5. it make work faster, play smoother and look better on new consoles, but it should play on all. Or, as stated before, Ouya won't last long.

Frankly, however, i still don't see them making it anyway. They have no plumber, no hedgehog, and no Master Chief. Consoles historically need a killer app out the gate to be successful. Ouya has none so far and what development I've heard of is porting only.

Without a AAA game from a AAA name, the console will be a novelty. Novelties become a niche or a fad. Niches never grow. Fads? Fade.

Honestly, my fear with this type of platform is that in order to get the "greatness" out of the device, you are going to have to hack, code, and tinker.

To be honest, I do this all day. When I choose to relax, I just want something I can plug in and use for entertainment. I feel most people in this market want the same. Concievably an app that runs on the first iteration might not run on the second?

Great novelty and engineer toy, but for the mainstream? And now to stay current I might have to spend $100.00 a year? I don't think I'm sold on this yet.

This decision is reminiscent of what Sega tried to do in the 1990s and early 2000s, and suffice it to say things did not go well. However, the 32x, Saturn and Dreamcast did not have backward compatibility, so maybe this will work out more successfully.